Check quality of burn

[amerifax]

How or what would I use to check the quality of a burn? I am noticing more and more that after backing up various DVD's in my collection I am getting a lot of freezing and/or pixelation. Is there a program out there that I can use to check the quality of the burn I am doing?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Bob

[jman98]

This is more hotly debated topic than you might think. There are some who spend significant amounts of time doing disc scans and swearing by the results. Others think that it's mostly a waste of time. I suspect that the latter group is probably right. Nero contains a program that can be used, theoretically at least, to check the quality of a burn. Generally speaking, using quality media is really the best idea. Do that and you don't have to worry about your burns. In the USA, this means using either Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden. Sony media may or may not be good, depending on where it was made, so we generally just tell people to stick to Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim. Note that Taiyo Yuden does not make re-writable or dual layer media for North America, so you must use Verbatim for those.

[r3n4ud]

How or what would I use to check the quality of a burn? I am noticing more and more that after backing up various DVD's in my collection I am getting a lot of freezing and/or pixelation. Is there a program out there that I can use to check the quality of the burn I am doing?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Bob

Try out Nero cd-dvd speed

[stiltman]

All I do is a verify/compare after burning with Imgburn. If the data is there it's there. If it comes up with an error, I reburn it.

My standalones will play pretty much anything

[guns1inger]

I am noticing more and more that after backing up various DVD's in my collection I am getting a lot of freezing and/or pixelation

If you are getting a lot of these issues then you have problems in the process that need to be addressed properly, and simply scanning and re-burning is not the answer .

The single most common cause of this type of problem is low grade media. Cheap media is cheap for a reason, and a false economy. What you save at the checkout you lose in coasters, not to mention frustration, lost data etc.

If you are using good media, and a good burning program (Imgburn), and still get these issues, then you may have hardware issues, either with the burner, or with the player. The player is the easiest to test. If your discs play flawlessly elsewhere then the fault lies with your player. It could be compatibility with the media oyu use, it could be dust, it could be age and wear and tear.

If the discs play badly everywhere then it is most likely your burner on the fritz.

[amerifax]

I will check those programs out. I have Nero 9 already but I will definately check out Imgburn.

I have tried various things throughout the burning process. I also burn at a much slower speed. I use Taiyo Yuden media for all my single layer. And for a long time I used Ritek for my DL with no problems. Then all of a sudden I was failing constantly. It was really strange. Either way, I have switched my media now to a better quality (for DL)

Thanks for all your help.

Bob

[jman98]

Either way, I have switched my media now to a better quality (for DL)

The ONLY quality DL media available in the USA is Verbatim. That's it. If you are using anything else, you do NOT have quality DL media. Just FYI.

If you are curious, Taiyo Yuden does make DL media, but it's not available for sale outside of Japan.

[Skith]

I have tried various things throughout the burning process. I also burn at a much slower speed.

Burning at a slower speed does not necessarily produce better results. Some dyes for higher speed media are will actually perform worse when burned at slower speeds. This is of course a complex issue, and can depend on a number of factors, including the drive used (hardware), firmware version, and media. In some cases the location the media was manufactured in can play a factor. Every combination has a sweet spot.

This is where scanning can possibly help, but it is important to understand that scans made with any consumer drive can, at best, only be compared with scans from that exact same drive. Comparing your results to those of other people, even those with the same drive is unproven and an easy trap to fall into. Consumer drives are not calibrated for advanced scanning. If you wish to learn more about more advanced scanning, CDFreaks is a good place to go (affiliates links) as is http://www.cdrinfo.com.

If you are getting bad discs with good media, try changing the write speed, slower is not always better. In fact, some drives actually allow overspeeding of media and do so with results better than the rated speed. For some interesting reads on scans using professional hardware (the type media manufacturers use) check out cdrinfo.

Aside from my advice about burning speeds, I would echo the advice of the above posters. Another thought, you should avoid any type of paper or adhesive label. Either use printable media and a compatible printer or the good old sharpie.

best of luck to ya.

[lordsmurf]

Read these:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media
http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/dvd-tests.htm
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm